A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to signal transmitters, and more particularly, to ultra-broad-band (UWB) transmitters.
B. Background of the Invention
UWB is a radio technology that is used at a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications using a large portion of the radio spectrum. Recently, UWB has been applied to collect target sensor data, locate and track target sensors with high precision. UWB communications offers many advantages. For instance, UWB signals are more difficult to detect than narrowband (essentially single frequency) signals and thus, the combination of broad spectrum, low power, and extremely short pulses also cause much less interference with other devices than do conventional narrowband wireless systems. Also, UWB is much more resistant to electrical interference from other devices than other wireless technology. Thus, UWB's data capacity, speed, low power requirements, and resistance to interference make it attractive as a communications technology.
Typically, the conventional UWB transmitter starts sending beacons/pulses immediately when the user enables the transmitter. Furthermore, the conventional UWB transmitter does not have an electrical component that is designed to check whether the internal chip of the UWB transmitter is enabled properly before the transmitter starts sending beacons. As such, there is a strong need for a transmitter architecture that keeps the transmitter in a deep sleep mode (ultra low power mode) before activation/enabling and, upon activation, allows the engineer to check whether the transmitter is enabled properly before it starts sending beacons.